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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22742206">sharp blades, tough hands</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefaultofoursouls/pseuds/thefaultofoursouls'>thefaultofoursouls</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>all that makes a shinobi [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Haruno Sakura, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Haruno Sakura-centric, Hatake Kakashi is a Good Teacher, Multi, NaruSaku BroTP, all my ninja bbs get healthy relationships, and canon did her dirty, espionage cuz this is a ninja world, eventual mokuton! sakura, explores the mindset of being a shinobi, gaara does not stay emotionally constipated, hopefully, inner is a different personality than sakura, kakashi deals with his demons, kind of an AU of an AU, mature-ish! sasuke and naruto, naruto gets healthy relationships with konoha, sakura gets a GLOWUP, sasuke resolves all his trauma, so i like sakura a lot, so this fic is basically a naruto glowup, world building done right</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 08:28:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22742206</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefaultofoursouls/pseuds/thefaultofoursouls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>sakura's nindo becomes this: become the person whose back is an inspiration for others.<br/>-- a story, in which sasuke learns what strength is, and naruto learns how to stop power from becoming poison. kakashi looks at the names on the memorial stone, and realizes that sasuke is not him, naruto is not obito, and sakura is not rin.<br/>-- alternatively, the new team seven and how they subvert everyone's expectations.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Others TBD, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, eventually sakura/ino, kakashi/good teaching skills, sakura/self-confidence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>all that makes a shinobi [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1635223</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>175</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>sharp blades, tough hands</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>sakura versus an unknown opponent! who will win in this fight?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sakura shuddered as she looked at the flashing giant screen that displayed her name opposite from that of a Kirigakure shinobi, and took a deep breath. Then another. And another. She wasn’t calming down. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What had she done? </span>
  </em>
  <span>She’d just … </span>
  <em>
    <span>snitched </span>
  </em>
  <span>on Sasuke-kun, told all the jounin and all the genin in the room that he was incapicitated by Orochimaru, and he’d looked at her and - she could still feel the killing intent, even after Kakashi had quieted him down and Sasuke had stopped struggling against him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d just taken away his chance to become a chunin, and now he’d hate her for it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she’d done the right thing … right? She was going to protect Naruto and Sasuke, because she’d gotten beat up and stabbed </span>
  <em>
    <span>for </span>
  </em>
  <span>them, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let Sasuke destroy himself even further by fighting more when he should be resting. But … he hated her now …</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Focus. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t worry about Sasuke, not now, when she was about to face off someone from Kiri, in her own duel, in her own chance to become a chunin. There was no godsdamned way she could give in and be overwhelmed by thinking about him, not when she’d bled for this moment to become, had spent seven years waiting for this -</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto stood up behind her as she began to walk into the arena. “Sakura-chan,” he began, but Sakura </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>he was gonna say something about Sasuke and she just - she couldn’t deal with that right now. She offered him a conciliatory half-smile, and walked away, palming a kunai immediately. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>to win this duel, for once in her life, because there was no second choice - she’d come this far, and it wasn’t to lose to an unknown genin, watching Naruto and Sasuke forward, always chasing their backs and their shadows … no. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>her </span>
  </em>
  <span>time now, her chance to prove something to the world and herself …</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had the last of thirteen bouts in the preliminary stage for the third stage. Sasuke abstaining meant that the opponents of each bout had been reshuffled, and Naruto had won against Shikamaru - barely, but he’d still won. Sakura couldn’t be the only one on Team Seven to not make it. This was her chance to catch up to Naruto and Sasuke, and not stare at their backs  -</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She exhaled again.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Focus. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She entered the arena.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The match began in a blur, as Yurii Kitaga approached her and they shook hands, leaping away simultaneously as Hayato-san yelled, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hajime!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of the girls looked at each other for a second, and Yurii Kitaga smirked, hand going up to her mouth to swallow something that she’d concealed in her sleeve, and Sakura’s eyes narrowed. Was that even allowed? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t have much time to wonder whether or not that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>allowed </span>
  </em>
  <span>in this fight, because there was a sudden swell of chakra vibrating in the air, and Hayato-san skipped back, far back, to perch atop the wall of the arena.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura’s hand moved for her kunai, and Yurii said, “Don’t bother. You won’t last very long.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other girl moved, hands blurring in a series of signs for her first jutsu, and Sakura moved back - Kakashi may not have taught her much, but he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>talk sometimes, and one of the first things he’d told them all was that sometimes, even the very first jutsu could determine the end of a spar or fight between two shinobi, and she was sparring someone for </span>
  <em>
    <span>real </span>
  </em>
  <span>now - this was something that could end in death, and her heart pounded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Water swelled, coming forth from the ground in waves - and Sakura couldn’t believe the amount of chakra her opponent had left from the second stage. She leapt up, but eventually, her foot landed in the water, and the other girl snickered as she lifted her hands up, and the water began to coalesce around Sakura like some sort of … water prison?? “You weren’t much of an opponent, Konoha,” Yurii Kitago said, and Sakura flinched.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was true. She’d come into the arena, dreaming up tales of her bravado, only to be defeated within a minute. Some ninja she was, Sakura thought bitterly. Just like everyone had told her, paper ninja, </span>
  <em>
    <span>worthless, washout, nothing but a pretty face and a big empty forehead — </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The other girl raised her hands up and made two quick hand signs: tora, hitsuji, and the water began to bind and solidify around Sakura, forcibly holding her in place as she strained against it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Impossible - does she have some sort of kekkai genkai … like Haku? “</span>
  </em>
  <span>It’ll be over quickly, so give up already, Konoha,” she smirked, one hand going down to her side to grab a dagger. Sakura’s eyes widened. </span>
  <em>
    <span>No, no no no, get out of here, Sakura, come on, come one, come on, don’t be a paper ninja anymore --</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The water that was solidifying around her fingers began to froth, and Sakura gritted her teeth, unwilling to scream as Yurii Kitago slashed a deep cut into her forearm. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Give me a little more leeway, come one come on --</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And right now, </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>had to give, between Sakura pushing at the jutsu to let loose and Inner screaming curses in her head, writhing with hatred for this Kirigakure shinobi who had her trapped, who dared smirk at her and act like she had no worth as a shinobi. Sakura </span>
  <em>
    <span>pushed </span>
  </em>
  <span>with her chakra, and something broke in response --</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Move your body, move your body, damn it --</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>All around her, the water that was solidifying began to turn back to liquid and fall and drip onto the ground again. The other genin drew her dagger back from where she had pulled it back to cut at Sakura again, and she gaped. “Impossible,” she breathed. “Did you - did you just </span>
  <em>
    <span>reverse </span>
  </em>
  <span>my </span>
  <em>
    <span>jutsu</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura sure as hell was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>about to dignify that with an answer. Inner was raging inside her head, demanding to be let loose to she could raise hell on this </span>
  <em>
    <span>brat, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and she didn’t feel like losing this fight, she thought to herself as she tilted her head and grabbed a kunai in each hand -- </span>
  <em>
    <span>I won’t lose, I won’t lose, I won’t lose I won’t lose I won’t -- </span>
  </em>
  <span>and everything </span>
  <em>
    <span>moved.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She ran forward, and as Yurii Kitago brought her dagger down in a wide arc, she countered by flinging both kunai up, clashing with the dagger and forcing it back up and --</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was another wave of water surging in front of her, and while that jutsu had been impressive the first time, it seemed lackluster now. Inner snarled, and wove their chakra and </span>
  <em>
    <span>pulled </span>
  </em>
  <span>on the water on the ground, and Sakura had near perfect chakra control, and what was a jutsu but chakra molded to a cause -- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A wave of water rose from behind Sakura to rival Yurii’s as they both crashed into each other --</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Finish this in one go, Sakura --</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She scrambled to pull out an explosive tag and slapped it onto one of her kunai and </span>
  <em>
    <span>flung </span>
  </em>
  <span>it at the waves of water as it exploded, and there was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bang </span>
  </em>
  <span>and smoke everywhere. She couldn’t see Yurii, but the Kiri genin couldn’t see her either, and if she had been able to survive </span>
  <em>
    <span>Zabuza’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>Killing: Hiding in the Mist technique, then this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing </span>
  </em>
  <span>in comparison. Getting in a crouch, Sakura flung out two shuriken and then sprung back up, kunai in hand, towards where she could hear footsteps. There was a slide and slip, a shift in weight, Sakura realized - the other girl </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>she was coming - and a punch caught her in the jaw, unguarded, as she slid and fell back a few feet. Between the punch and the cut, Sakura could feel heat building behind her ears - killing intent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She roared and a memory came to her, back from the Academy’s taijutsu classes with Iruka-sensei:</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“If you ever try to fake someone out in a fight,” Iruka-sensei began with a kindly face that turned to a scowl as he looked at Naruto, “hey, cut it out! Anyways, let me demonstrate what I mean! For example, if I was to … fake cutting someone with a kunai to surprise them with a punch, you’d first put the kunai with your dominant hand and act like you’re about to cut someone with it -”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura pressed forward and ran at the other genin, kunai gripped tightly in her right hand - </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And then you throw it slightly off-course from what would appear to be its expected trajectory - “</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>They closed in on each other, both with a blade in their right hands, and Sakura waited till they were within a breath of each other, and flung her kunai --</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And then - go for it! Surprise your opponent, and you might just win the fight!” Iruka-sensei beamed as he gave them all a thumbs up.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Yurii’s eyes tracked the kunai, and in that instant, Sakura punched her, throwing all her weight into it, and she felt something crack as the other girl let out a cry and jumped back - </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m not done yet.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sakura growled as she jumped up and threw another kunai at the girl, who sidestepped in the nick of time, just barely avoiding being cut by the sharp weapon. Yurii was holding her cheek with one hand, and darted forward now with the dagger in the other, as fast as she could go. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You bitch!” she yelled as she barreled into Sakura, cutting her cheek with the tip of the blade that she slashed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of responding, Sakura put her arms around the girl’s waist and flung her sideways --</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was looking more and more like an Academy brawl by the second. Yurii coughed and blindly kicked back, and Sakura took the kick in stride, catching it with her left side as she went in, eyes narrowed, and kicked the other girl in the jaw, near where she had first punched the girl, making it hurt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She yowled, and bit Sakura’s arm as she got up, and her arm throbbed with a sharp ache - Sakura flinched, and the girl was tripping Sakura first, hands winding around her neck, squeezing as Sakura fell -- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura thrashed, and there was a burst of chakra again -  </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>ever </span>
  <em>
    <span>let your guard down or this happens, paper ninja paper ninja paper ninja worthless forehead --</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She had one goal, one objective: </span>
  <em>
    <span>win this fight. Win right now. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>(And elements had no choice but to bend to the will of those who molded chakra. Sakura’s willpower was immense in that moment, tinged with desperation, mingling with the knowledge that she was in a tight spot right now that s</span>
  <em>
    <span>he had to get out of</span>
  </em>
  <span>, burning with all the gravity of the Will of Fire, the same intensity that the man who had first wielded the Mokuton had had -  )</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the water surged up. It came in a giant wave as Sakura wrenched an arm free and swung blindly, wheezing for breath -- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It came down in a cascade for Yurii Kitago, who was unprepared to deal with the sudden onslaught of genjutsu, and Sakura went for it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other girl smirked, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sakura could see Zabuza in it. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Her mind went back to Kiri.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d seen Kakashi-sensei fight Zabuza and Haku, back at Kiri where their first mission had gone awry. She’d seen her sensei illuminated in the fog by the lightning he’d produced in his fist, had watched it as he’d rammed it into Haku’s chest and pushed it into Zabuza, had seen the blood that splattered around and onto the ground from the killing jutsu he’d used.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And in this moment, if Yurii Kitago was smirking like Zabuza </span>
  <em>
    <span>and acting like Zabuza and had the same shirt as Zabuza and the same headband as Zabuza and the same mist was around them and she was Kiri he was Kiri blood in their teeth smirking smirking blood killers assasination kill them kill Sakura --</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>If Yurii Kitago was like Zabuza, and Sakura would take no other option but winning the fight, then she would have to do something like Kakashi-sensei had done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Kiri genin’s hands blurred again, she was making another jutsu, and then her right hand went up with her left held to her mouth -- </span>
  <em>
    <span>just like Zabuza had done --</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sakura’s mind was screaming, and she was back in Kiri, shuddering in the mist, not knowing when Zabuza was about to appear, and that feeling of terror - </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inner surged forward, a perverse attempt at compartmentalization, and there was power at her fingertips. Sakura wasn’t going to die </span>
  <em>
    <span>she wouldn’t die she wouldn’t die Zabuza would not kill her, she’d kill him and </span>
  </em>
  <span>win --</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She screamed and water arced behind her, razor-sharp, and crashed down onto the other girl before she could finish the signs for her jutsu. Sakura palmed a kunai and ran forward and jumped up, already knowing what she was going to do --</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She called up more water at her feet in midair, letting it propel her up a bit before she let herself fall --</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zabuza’s eyes widened as Sakura bought her right food down over his head, and then she twisted in midair, pushing her right hand forward with a burst of chakra before Zabuza could do anything --</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the kunai </span>
  <em>
    <span>went through his back --</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Blood leaked out near his left shoulder and Zabuza coughed, falling to his knees, long hair flopping over his head --</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Zabuza didn’t have long hair -- that was </span>
  </em>
  <span>Yurii Kitago </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’re in the Chunin Exams fighting </span>
  </em>
  <span>Yurii Kitago -- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura let the kunai clatter from her hand as the other girl held her hand to the hole in her right shoulder. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She stepped back - and threw up from the gravity of what she had done, she’d just </span>
  <em>
    <span>punched a hole in another girl’s shoulder with a kunai</span>
  </em>
  <span> - </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hayato-san blurred in front of her, separating her from the Kiri genin, and waited for her to finish puking before he raised her left arm, the one that was not covered in another girl’s blood. “Winner: Haruno Sakura, Konoha,” he announced. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The audience roared in response - and Sakura blinked, and was turning to walk away when -- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re … strong, Konoha,” Yurii Kitago said, her voice screwed up in pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura didn’t know what to say to that, and her mind was still reeling from the flashbacks to Kiri that she had had, so she nodded and kept on walking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was strange - she’d never felt so numb before. As soon as she reached the stands, Naruto came bounding down the stairs, face pale, but also with a slight smile. “Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan, good job, ‘ttebayo! But,” he paused here, then continued, “Teme got, um, he was watching you fight, and then he went pale an’ fainted, and Kaka-sensei took him to the medic people, but he’s back, but he looks kinda weird, ‘ttebayo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura let out a sigh, and Naruto’s face crumpled. “What happened, Sakura-chan?” he asked, voice quieter and serious. “You looked kinda off near the end of your fight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” Sakura asked, feeling self-conscious. “What do you mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto flushed. “You - ah - you looked kinda constipated, Sakura-chan,” he trailed off as he leapt back a few feet. She closed her eyes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I have never wanted to punch someone more in my life - </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>A few days ago, she would’ve followed through with that thought, but right now … well, something had shifted in their dynamic, and Sakura found herself wanting to be honest with her teammate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I … she reminded me of Wave, and I thought I was Zabuza, not another genin, near the end.” Sakura answered, willing herself to leave the explanation there in its brevity and not start snivelling like she had in the Forest again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto hugged her, and Sakura’s eyes widened. Out of all the things she’d been expecting he’d say - ridicule her, try to proposition her on a date, </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>- this had not been it. She slowly hugged him back, and they stood there for a minute, saying nothing, before Naruto stepped back. “You’re strong, Sakura-chan,” he said, blue eyes grave, “like teme. And me, of course! You won’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>lose, ‘ttebayo!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, he turned around and bounded back up the stairs, Sakura following him. She saw Kakashi-sensei looking at her, but he was looking at her </span>
  <em>
    <span>differently, </span>
  </em>
  <span>not like he’d looked at her before - not </span>
  <em>
    <span>dismissively. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He was looking at her … similarly to how he looked at Sasuke, and Sakura felt a bit prouder because of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He started to walk towards her, steps brisk, tucking his book in his pocket. When he reached her and Naruto, he pulled his headband up, and made the peace sign, smiling (or at least, that was what Sakura </span>
  <em>
    <span>assumed </span>
  </em>
  <span>he was doing, because both his eyes crinkled at the corners), and said, “Yo, good job, Sakura-chan!” He ruffled her hair here, and Sakura rolled her eyes. But then, his voice changed </span>
  <em>
    <span>just a little, </span>
  </em>
  <span>sounding like Ino when she was little and talking to Ami, a little lower and rougher. “Training tomorrow. At six in the morning, where we always have it. I’ll be on time, my cute genin!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a chill in the air for a second when he made eye contact with Sakura, and she shivered. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe, now that he’s seen me win </span>
  </em>
  <span>something, </span>
  <em>
    <span>he’s taking me seriously, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she thought, and he seemed to give her an imperceptible nod.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, he pulled out his smut and began reading again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto stared at her. “Is it just me, or is Kaka-sensei, the man who is </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>late,  saying he’ll </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually </span>
  </em>
  <span>be on time tomorrow?” Sakura laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maa, maa, I can still hear you,” Kakashi-sensei said, not taking his eyes off the book. “Don’t blaspheme your poor sensei like that, Naruto-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Chan?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Naruto raged. “Did you just call me </span>
  <em>
    <span>chan</span>
  </em>
  <span>? That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>bullshit. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’m gonna be Hokage, ‘ttebayo!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura tuned him out after that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her hand went back to her hair to smooth it out, and Sakura was hyper aware of how short it was - Ino had cut it after Sakura had cut some of it off to escape from the Sound genin in the Forest. It was a reminder of the fact that she was not strong, not yet, and the Chunin Exams were far from over. She needed to get stronger, because she may have won the last fight, but this last stage had semifinals and then finals, according to Hokage-sama, to decide who was worthy of becoming a chunin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That meant she’d be fighting other strong people.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had no time to be worrying about anything else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hayato-san called out, “Hokage-sama is entering!” and all the murmurs quieted as, sure enough, the Sandaime himself glided into the arena, commanding everyone’s attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He addressed them all. “As I’m sure all of you know, we have begun the third and final stage of the Chunin Exams. The winners of this preliminary round have been determined - and they will face each other in the semifinal and final bouts as well. The bouts for the semifinals will have been determined via a draw, and here they are!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The screen in the arena flashed with every two names the Hokage spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first round would be Naruto against someone named Kankuro from Sunagakure - </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The second round was Hyuuga Hinata versus Hyuuga Neji, which seemed like it would be an interesting match, two people from the same clan, a shy girl against someone rumored to be a prodigy with his Byakugan dojutsu, just like Sasuke was with his Sharingan -</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Hokage-sama announced the third bout, and Sakura’s heart nearly stopped out of shock. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Haruno Sakura against Yamanaka Ino --</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She choked back a bitter laugh. Life seemed to have a way of coming full circle, Sakura mused. She was fighting against her former friend for the chance to advance to the finals and become a chunin. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ino-pig versus Sakura-forehead. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ami would’ve died of laughter if she’d seen this, Sakura thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ino --</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura was going to lose to Ino. That was going to be the outcome of the match, because the other girl was just too strong. Even back in the Forest, it had been Ino who’d stepped out to challenge Dosu first, with Shikamaru and Chouji backing her up, while Sakura had slumped onto the ground, bloody and beaten, and she’d done a far better job of beating back the genin from Sound until Sasuke had woken up in a rage and saved all of their asses. Plus, Ino was a clan heir, and that automatically meant she had more jutsu at her disposal, including the freaky mind jutsu she could use - that was a staple of the Yamanaka clan, a guarded secret clan jutsu - a civilian-born kunoichi like Sakura didn’t stand a chance, no matter how much she wanted to win and become a chunin. The odds just … weren’t in her favor - they were stacked against her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But there was a small seed of doubt - </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto’s words came back to her, and she grinned. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You won’t ever lose. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>(Sakura was a different picture now - before the fight, she’d been overwhelmed, wringing her hands with the worry of what Sasuke would think of her and what she’d done, and now - the grin was more like she was baring her teeth as a challenge, daring someone to make her bow to them. Haruno Sakura was changing for the better, getting more confident, small step after small step to a goal.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone had faith in their abilities. Granted, it was Naruto, and he might have just been overly enthusiastic and trying to convince her that she would win out of politeness - but Sakura liked to think she knew Naruto just a little, and he wasn’t very polite - he was brazen and honest about anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So yes, someone </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>have enough faith in Sakura’s abilities that they thought she could win a high-stakes fight against a </span>
  <em>
    <span>clan heir, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and she wouldn’t be the one to let them down. Not in something like the Chunin Exams, where there was so many stakes - losing a fight meant getting injured severely and having to push through rehabilitation and therapy and countless D-rank missions to even be considered a genin again, and winning meant you were one step closer to </span>
  <em>
    <span>chunin</span>
  </em>
  <span>, a rank that only good shinobi ever got.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura was a step closer to that same rank now, in the same event that one of the Sannin had tried to sabotage. In the same place where </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke </span>
  </em>
  <span>wasn’t able to advance. She had survived a week of pure hell to have the slightest chance of getting somewhere in life and being able to </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>something and get better, and she wasn’t about to let </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ino </span>
  </em>
  <span>take that away from her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She would push through, she decided grimly as Hokage-sama finished speaking and shunshinned away with two of the other ANBU guards. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto looked at her as though he was trying to gauge her mood, and when he saw her grin, he grinned too - not a genuine smile, but rather a mean smirk, full of promises, mirroring her own expression. Then his eyes shifted to someone behind her, and he pursed his mouth. “Speaking of which, Sakura-chan, Ino and Shikamaru are showin’ up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura turned around as Ino neared, and the blonde girl smirked. “Oh, Forehead, you’re gonna get it in two weeks. I’m gonna </span>
  <em>
    <span>beat. Your. Ass.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> She emphasized the last three words by grinding her fist into her palm while Shikamaru looked on, disinterested. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inner was getting fired up, and Sakura leaned forward, hands on her hips, until she was in Ino’s face. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shyas, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ino-</span>
  <em>
    <span>chan</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she purred, and Ino blinked for a second, before sneering again at Sakura..</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, this isn’t just about getting Sasuke-kun anymore then, Forehead?” she asked, voice low.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Ino thought lowering her voice was gonna get her to sound threatening, Sakura would do the same in return. She pitched her voice just as low. “No, it’s about getting the rank of chunin, and I promise you, it won’t be you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ino flushed slightly, and opened her mouth to reply when Shikamaru cut in. “Eh, Ino, this is a bother. Let’s just go to Yakiniku’s now, Chouji wants dinner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura recognized the attempt at defusing the situation and straightened back up, cracking her knuckles. “Yeah, Naruto,” she said, keeping eye contact with Ino as she spoke, “we both won, so let’s go get something to eat to celebrate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, let’s go get ramen, ‘ttebayo!” Naruto cheered as Ino’s right eye twitched. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Copycat</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she mouthed as she turned around and began walking away in the direction from where she had come from with Shikamaru. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura watched them leave before turning to Naruto. “I, uh, kind of blanked out after hearing I was fighting Ino,” she confessed. “Do you know who the other pairings are?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto blinked. “Sakura-chan, why would you think </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’d </span>
  </em>
  <span>know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That’s fair. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, then, let’s go back to Kaka-sensei and get him to pay for our dinner!” Naruto exclaimed, as he began to walk back to where Kakashi-sensei was - somehow the man had walked to the other side of the arena without them noticing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura laughed and began to walk with him. They passed the redheaded boy with the kanji tattoo on his forehead, and they made eye contact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Two-spirit,” he intoned while looking at her, and then continued walking by them as if nothing had happened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto blinked. “Two-spirit? What's that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura shrugged. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Does he mean … </span>
  </em>
  <span>Inner? She shoved that thought aside, however. There were more important things to focus on, there were two weeks until the semifinals, and she’d won the preliminaries, but she wasn’t even close to chunin - </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ino. Chunin. Training. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sasuke.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can’t get distracted. I can’t let my guard down.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just getting started,” Sakura swore, and she meant it. Naruto grinned and clapped her on the back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know it!” he exclaimed. “ We won’t lose, Sakura-chan, ‘ttebayo!”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>drop a comment, please. i wanna know how my writing made you feel.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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